When Amal Neerad had to teach Texans about Malayalam cinema

Amal Neerad's upcoming Dulquer Salmaan movie,

Comrade in America

, is unique in that it was shot in some locations in the US and South America.

In many of them, it was the first time a Malayalam film, or any film for that matter, was being shot.
In one such location, Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas, the locals had no knowledge about the existence of Kerala! Says Amal Neerad, 'The place was almost next to Mexico and not many movies have been shot there. A newspaper which noticed our shoot came over to the set one day and interviewed us. For them, movies in India meant Bollywood and they had never heard of Malayalam movies.'

Amal gave them a brief introduction to Malayalam cinema and also Dulquer Salmaan. 'We explained to them that there are many other film industries in India, and that the South produces more films than Bollywood, together. I'm glad they made the attempt to learn more about Malayalam,' he says. In the newspaper article which appeared, it says, 'Malayalam cinema is based out of the Indian state of Kerala and is recorded in the Malayalam language,' with links to 'A beginners guide to Malayalam Cinema' in its online version.

The shoot is over for the film, which has Dulquer as the lead character. Interestingly, Amal began his career with Big B, a one-of-a-kind film starring Mammootty, and so the current movie is special to him, he says. 'My first experience with any kind of an actor was with Mammukka. It was only because of Mammukka's belief in us that we made Big B and also, the first person outside the crew to watch the film was Dulquer. We arranged a special screening for him in Chennai and he said he liked the movie. At that point of time, he was not an actor, back in 2007. So I am super happy doing a full length feature film with Dulquer. For Kullante Bharya, I shot only three days with Dulquer and that comfort exists still.' Ask him how Dulquer compares with Mammootty and he says, 'Mammukka, or any senior actor for that matter, brings with him years of experience and he takes a film beyond our expectations, every time. Dulquer, on the other hand, is more like a friend. However, he has done more films than I and is thus more experienced than me. I consider myself a juvenile, amateur director still. It's not humility but the truth.'